Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Denver successfully sent mental health professionals, not police, to hundreds of calls

    In its first six months, Denver's STAR program (Support Team Assistance Response) handled 748 emergency calls that in the past would have gone to the police or firefighters. Two-person teams of a medic and clinician helped people with personal crises related mainly to homelessness and mental illness. None of the calls required police involvement and no one was arrested. The city plans to spend more to expand the program, which is meant to prevent needless violence and incarceration from calls to the police that other types of first-responders can better address.

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  • Cleveland saw a decrease in unsheltered homelessness in 2020: Can that continue?

    During 2020, the city of Cleveland reduced the rate of people experiencing homelessness by 30% due to provisions put in place to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Using eviction moratoriums for those at risk of losing their homes, and hotels for those who were unhoused, the agencies responding to homelessness along with the city and county were able to better engage with the community's needs.

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  • How a better headcount reduces homelessness in the US

    The “Built for Zero” campaign relies on frequently updated data collection and a streamlining of homelessness services to reduce the number of unhoused people living on the streets to “functional zero.” The data is housed in one central command center with various agencies, nonprofits, and government offices working together to ensure no one falls through the cracks.

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  • The "Secret Handshake"—A Program Gifting Cannabis to Unhoused People

    In Los Angeles, the Sidewalk Project gives unhoused people gifts of marijuana to ease their anxiety and to show kindness. Since its start in the spring of 2020, the group has gifted gram-sized portions of weed nearly 1,000 times. The harm-reduction group gets its supply from growers who donate weed that isn't up to commercial-grade snuff. Evidence is mixed on whether marijuana is an effective antidote to opioid withdrawal symptoms, but Sidewalk says it has helped some by making them more relaxed. Personal use of marijuana is legal in California, with restrictions on quantities that can be transferred.

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  • How Montrose is Addressing Homelessness & Where It Comes Up Short

    A hotel voucher program in Montrose County, Colorado, provided temporary relief for families and individuals experiencing homelessness during the pandemic. The program helped 80 people, especially because the sole homeless shelter in the county is seasonal - operating only from November to April. Montrose County can look to neighboring Grand Junction for a blueprint to alleviate chronic homelessness through collaboration.

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  • Tiny House ‘Villages' for People Experiencing Homelessness Spreading Across the Country

    A successful tiny home community in Missouri is inspiring a doctor-nurse duo to establish one in Wilmington, North Carolina. The idea took hold after they realized that chronic homelessness had a huge impact on health which led to frequent, preventable ER visits. Eden Village is supportive, permanent housing that residents can stay in forever as long as they abide by some rules.

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  • Is There a Better Way to Collect Data on Homelessness?

    A campaign to end housing instability is counting on frequent data collection to provide a clearer insight into the reality and needs of those living on the streets. “Built for Zero” aims to replace the current federal HUD model which consists of a single annual physical count of the unhoused. The data are used to create a command center which streamline the response from various groups and agencies that can address the issue of homelessness. The city of Bakersfield, California, was able to functionally end homelessness even with the onset of the pandemic after implementing the data-driven strategy.

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  • In Eugene, Oregon, civilian response workers—not police—are dispatched to nonviolent crises

    Eugene's well-established CAHOOTS program for replacing police as first responders to certain types of 911 calls has become a model for multiple cities as they seek to replicate its success in an era of questioning the role of police. While it saves its city money and replaces arrests and possible violence with social and health services for people needing housing or mental health care, or suffering from addiction, CAHOOTS is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of programs responding to these challenges. Communities' differences will dictate what works best for them.

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  • This L.A. project shows that homeless housing can be done quickly and cheaply

    A housing complex in Los Angeles was approved and constructed with unprecedented speed and at a much lower cost than traditional homeless housing projects. Using up-cycled shipping containers, the project will include amenities such as bathrooms and refrigerators for each room. Teamwork and collective action from the county’s public works department resulted in the successful project.

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  • Give Housing, Save Money

    Providing people with housing and then giving them the services they need to stay housed is also a very effective way to save tax-payer money. Reducing chronic homeless through programs like The Madrone Project helps keep the unhoused healthier, reducing their trips to the ER, and also saves tax dollars that go into policing those living on the streets. Spending money on housing and services can be considered an investment that helps get people housed and healthy again, as well as a financial strategy to reduce government and hospital costs.

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